A Taste of Temptation by Amelia Grey

drink.”
    “Not so quick, my lord. I am not willing to concede that there has been no harm to my niece. That has yet to be determined. However, I will be happy to entertain you and your solicitor tomorrow afternoon to hear what you have to say for yourself concerning this turn of events.”
    “Auntie, what are you talking about? We’ve explained what happened. It’s completely unnecessary for you to summon the earl for such an insignificant matter.”
    “This is not an inconsequential matter, my dear girl.
    The fact is there are witnesses to you being alone with this man in his bedchamber.”
    Andrew had to give the young lady credit for knowing how to play the part of the innocent victim with conviction.
    Before she’d stepped away from him her eyes seemed to be pleading with him to do something, but he’d felt little sor-row for her, considering she brought this unpleasantness on herself.
    He’d fully expected her to demand marriage on the spot. He could only thank his lucky stars that hadn’t happened—yet.

    Since the introductions, he’d forced himself not to look at Miss Banning for fear her aunt might think he was trying to send her some kind of secret message, but suddenly across the space between them their gazes met.
    Andrew was instantly reminded of how good she felt in his arms, how wonderful the softness of her mouth felt beneath his lips, how sweet and innocent she’d tasted on his tongue.
    “In my day, if a man disgraced a young lady he was made to marry her as soon as the proper bans could be posted,” the Lord Mayor’s wife blurted out.
    “I don’t want to marry him,” Miss Banning said firmly, her eyes darting from him, to the Lord Mayor’s wife, to her aunt. “He did not disgrace me. You don’t know what you are talking about.”
    “His hands were on your face. I saw it,” Mrs. Farebrother insisted.
    “Dorothy, please be quiet and let me handle this.”
    “By all means, Agatha, you should be the one to find out what was going on in here. But I’m certain they were touching.”
    “Might I ask who was touching whom?” Gasps echoed like a lonesome whisper around the suddenly silent room.
    Andrew’s gaze flew to the doorway just in time to see the buxom Lady Lynette Knightington stepping from behind his short Aunt Claudette to get a good look at what was going on inside.
    Bloody hell!
    “You may ask, but you might get snapped at for doing so,” Mrs. Farebrother said in an annoyed tone.
    “I heard voices and came to investigate. What’s going on in here?” Lady Lynette asked.

    “We don’t know yet,” Mrs. Farebrother answered before anyone else found their breath. “The three of us were on our way to the retiring room when Claudette noticed Lord Dugdale’s bedchamber’s door ajar. We walked over to close it and found the two of them in here in what possibly could have been an embrace.”
    Heaven help him. What next? This was worse than any poorly acted comedy he’d seen at the Lyceum. He had to get all of the ladies out of his rooms before anyone else showed up.
    “Mrs. Farebrother is speaking out of turn,” Miss Banning remarked, stepping forward as color fled up the column of her slender, beautiful neck and settled in the softness of her cheeks.
    “Yes, she is, and that’s enough from you, Dorothy.” His Aunt Claude spoke up for the first time in quite a while.
    “Indeed,” Miss Loudermilk reprimanded. “How dare you continue to insert yourself into this very private matter when you’ve been asked repeatedly to stay quiet?”
    “I’d hardly call it private when the three of us witnessed their embrace. Just because we have been friends for more than thirty years, Agatha, you have no cause to speak to me in such a tone.”
    “I do when you continue to offer an opinion that is neither wanted, nor is it needed. I insist on handling this delicate concern without your help.”
    “I know what I saw,” Mrs. Farebrother insisted and folded her arms across her